The Commissioner Of Income Tax-Iii, Pune v. United Western Bank Ltd

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAYO. O. C. J. INCOME TAX APPEAL NO.754 OF 2009 The Commissioner of Income Tax-III, Pune. Vs.United Western Bank Ltd. .... Mr.Vimal Gupta for the Appellant.Mr. S.N. Inamdar for the Respondent. ..... ...Appellant. ...Respondent. CORAM : DR.D.Y.CHANDRACHUD AND J.P.DEVADHAR, JJ. June 11, 2010. P.C. : The appeal has been admitted on the following substantial question of law : “ Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law, the Tribunal did not err in dismissing the appeals as unadmitted for want of clearance from the Committee on Disputes (Cabinet Secretariat) when such a clearance was not at all required in view of the fact that the assessee was a bank in the private sector at the time that the appeals had been instituted before the Tribunal by the assessee bank as well as by revenue and in fact, the assessee bank got merged with the Industrial Development Bank of India Ltd. a public sector undertaking owned by the Government of India only much later.” Today, an appeal involving the same question (Income Tax Appeal 3030 of 2009) pertaining to the same assessee has been disposed of by an order of this Court. In the circumstances, by consent, the papers of the present appeal have been called and the appeal has been taken on board and has been called out for hearing. The appeal has been filed against the order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal by which the Tribunal declined to entertain the appeal on the ground that clearance of the Committee on Disputes had not been obtained. The appeal before the Tribunal was filed by the United Western Bank Ltd. which during the pendency of the appeal was amalgamated with the Industrial Development Bank of India by a notification dated 30 September 2006. Consequent upon the amalgamation, the assessee is a public sector undertaking fully owned by the Government of India. The Tribunal has held that though the assessee has assumed the character of a public sector undertaking during the pendency of the appellate proceedings, the spirit underlying the requirement for obtaining clearance of the Committee on Disputes is that, as far as possible, disputes between Government Departments and public sector undertaking should be resolved through a conciliatory process instead of taking recourse to a litigative forum. The Tribunal has granted liberty to the appellant to seek restoration of the appeal upon obtaining clearance of the Committee on Disputes and has permitted the appellant to move a miscellaneous application. In our view, it is not necessary for this Court to entertain the appeal. It would be open to the appellant to move the Committee on Disputes for seeking clearance. In the event that the Committee comes to the conclusion that its clearance is not necessary, it would be open to the appellant to move the Tribunal in a Miscellaneous Application placing the decision of the Committee on the record. In that view of the matter, we dispose of the appeal by permitting the appellant to take necessary steps in accordance with law. ( Dr.D.Y.Chandrachud, J.) ( J.P.Devadhar, J.)